10 Broadcaster Press March 22, 2016 www.broadcasteronline.com Board Meets to Discuss Possible CAFO Changes Six Year Check-Up of Obamacare By Elyse Brightman Elyse.brightman@plaintalk.net particulars of the waters of the state tion some type of a barrier that they just as we have with the manure discan put in place between their feed posal. I think if we had a chart like with lot and whatever that structure is,” The Clay County board of comthe manure disposal where we identify Passick said. That barrier could consist missioners and Clay County Zoning lakes, streams, public roads, dwellof trees, shrubs, a fence, berm or any and Planning Commission met for a ings, wells, shallow wells, residences, material that the commission hearing joint meeting inside the Clay County manmade drainage and so on and we that conditional use would determine is Courthouse to discuss the changes and set our setback to that, I think that’s appropriate.” proposed changes to the CAFO (conappropriate.” The only exception to that requirecentrated animal feeding operations) He recognized that the term “waters ment would a circumstance where ordinance. of the state” can include anything, for there is no land or funds available for Administrator Cynthia Aden present- example standing water in a road ditch, such construction, or if the dwelling ed the room with changes she underbut if it is made clear the ordinance owner decides a barrier is not necesstood to be agreed upon by the group. complies with a minimum level with sary. The biggest change made was the waters of the state, identifies all of the Lastly, Passick talked about the addition of the words “animal feeding things that are important and provides dairy numbers and compared Clay operation” throughout the document. a setback then that would allow for the County requirements to neighboring In section 3.07-2 for a state general term to be used. counties. He suggested taking a cap off permit, the wording was changed to say Passick then talked about clearing the number of dairy cows allowed. “when a general water pollution control the conditional permit use to expand The cap for a large animal feeding permit is required by the SDNR then from a small to a medium without operation is currently at 3,500. Turner the operator shall file copies of all state changing the setbacks from the small to County requires anything more than approved construction plans with the the medium. 1,428, Lincoln County 1,429 or more, county.” “In other words, if they is already Union County is 700 or more and YankAllowing the number of animals and existing house, as an example, ton County has a bracket of 3,571-7,143. confined at a preexisting operation a quarter mile from a small and they “It struck me that we are somewhat being made larger without changing the should be able to expand to a medium out of touch with the other counties setbacks was taken out and no changes without having to put the additional with the bracket that we are proposwere made for the number of animals setback in place,” he said. ing and I began to look at the idea of allowed in the animal numbers table. The original proposal stated that the the bracket and the merits, benefits or “I left reverse setbacks in,” Aden operation would have to be grandfadetriments of actually having a bracket said. “I added in the feeding operations thered in to qualify, meaning it would at all,” Passick said. to that and then I removed the language have had to be in existence before the Instead of a cap on dairy cow numthat would allow for the expansion and ordinance was in place, which brought bers, Passick proposed a program that I did not make any changes to the apforward a lot of “feelings” requires a conditional use permit for plication setbacks.” “There were some strong feelings on anything over 700 that is specifically for In section 307-6, the words “conpart of the farm community that if they the number proposed. If the AFO wants centrated animal feed permit” were wanted to expand and have the family to expand, a new permit would be changed to “county condition use be able to have the family stay on the required with a new number of cows, permit.” farm that that would be an important giving the county more control. A few other small changes were thing for them to be able to accom“That gives (the county) the opmade to reflect requirements from the plish,” Passick said. portunity to allow a neighbor that was zoning administration. He came up with a proposal of quali- having problems with cows all the time “We would have to make some fications to be grandfathered in. or the one that sold him feed and never changes based on these zoning districts “Number one, it would have to be got paid and highway superintendent and for the NRC zoning district,” Aden in existence prior to the enactment of that had problems with the road, it said. “The permitted use is a small B. this ordinance of the amendment of gives them all the opportunity to come small A is a conditional use, other uses this ordinance and the second condiin and say ‘this guy just isn’t living up are not allowed and the agricultural tion would be that the operation would to anything good at all and I don’t want district small A and B are permitted, have to be registered and continually to see him have anything bigger,’” Pasall other animal feeding operations are operate as a small operation prior to sick said. considered additional use.” the construction or introduction of the He points out that if Clay County County Commissioner Dusty Passick dwelling,” Passick said. turns away a large operation, that same then presented the table with proposed If the dwelling was already in place business can go to Yankton County or www.broadcasteronline.com www.broadcasteronline.com modifications to three points that the and an operation came in and used Union County and be just eight miles thought were the important: waters only the quarter mile setback then the out of Vermillion and Clay County of the state, clearing the conditional operation would not qualify to expand would have no input for road hauls or permit use for expanding to a small to because it was known the law was manure disposal, as opposed to a large a medium without changing setbacks a quarter mile setback and a larger AFO 30 miles away in the corner of Clay and, lastly, was the number of dairy setback was not used at the time of County. cows allowed at an operation. construction. “I want to protect our people, I want “I went back after last meeting and “Then, if it meets those criteria then to protect our environment and at the I sat down and dragged through the I would suggest the expansion must same time I want Clay county to have things that I thought were important take place in a direction that would not the opportunity to grow with the apthat I thought we not clarified or agreed diminish the existing setback,” Passick propriate things and I really think that if upon at our last meeting and I came up said. we give the proper tools to the planning with three things that seemed imporFor example, if the operation wants commission we have far more control tant to me that I wanted to at least have to expand and there is a dwelling to the of what we’re allowing in there rather input,” Passick said. south, it can expand to the north, east than going with a bracket,” Passick He proposed that waters of the state or west, but not intrude on the quarter said. “We can’t be an island. We have be reinstated into the ordinance and be mile setback to the south. to recognize that all around us they are consistent throughout. “Finally, I would like to add that at making it work and figuring out,” “As far as I know, if we follow the the time that they request the hearing Then next meeting of the zoning state regulation, they don’t have a for the conditional use to make that commission is scheduled for March 29 setback for waters of the state,” Passick expansion that they also provide a as a public hearing. said. “I think we’re free to identify the plan in conjunction with that applica- www.broadcasteronline.com www.broadcasteronline.com www.broadcasteronline.com www.broadcasteronline.com Visit our Web site at www.broadcasteronline.com Visit our Web site at www.broadcasteronline.com Visit our Web site at www.broadcasteronline.com What everyone is reading. 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And there is no sign of these damaging effects slowing down. For many families across the United States, health insurance premiums are the biggest household expense. I continue to hear from South Dakotans who simply cannot afford their new plans under the ACA, yet they are required by law to purchase the plans or face steep tax penalties. In one case, the premium for a healthy married couple in their 50’s now costs more than $15,000 annually. That doesn’t even include co-pays or deductibles that they pay when they go to the doctor. Another individual told me her premium increased 40 percent in 2016, so she now pays $1,270 each month for her health insurance. These are just a few of the many stories I continue to hear about rising premiums and higher out-of-pocket costs because of Obamacare. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the ACA costs American taxpayers more than $116 billion a year. In fact, on average, every household in the United States can expect more than $20,000 in new Wildland Communities Must Learn To Live With Fire BROOKINGS – Mankind must learn to live with wildland fires by reintegrating fire as a vital landscape process and to build communities that are resilient to fire, according to professor Mark Cochrane, a wildfire expert and senior scientist at the Geospatial Sciences Center of Excellence. In 2014, the federal government addressed the complexities of managing wildfires through the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. It emphasizes restoring fire-adapted landscapes and building communities that can coexist with wildland fires, thus reducing the firefighting burden. Cochrane is part of a team of scientists from Idaho, California, Utah, Montana, Nevada, Colorado, Canada and Australia who examined the challenges that must be overcome to create fire-resilient communities in an article in the February issue of Bioscience magazine. 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Something has to change.” That means moving from the notion that fires are unnatural and toward a managed approach that integrates fire research with public policy, according to Cochrane. Building resiliency into landscapes, communities “Communities have to be part of the solution,” Cochrane said. With budgets tightening, people who live in fire-prone areas must decide where they want to put their resources. “If they go full fire suppression, taxes and other expenses will increase.” However, there are simple ways to reduce the fire risk, such as clearing brush and dry grass, leaves and needles from around houses, he explained. In addition, building codes can be revised to require the use of less flammable construction materials, such as metal. “If you live in flammable countryside, you’ve got to work with fire. You can’t make it go away,” Cochrane said. Prescribed burns can help reduce the fire risk, but people must accept the possibility that “a certain number of them will get away and when you burn things, there is smoke.” Cochrane would also like to see insurance involved, similar to flood insurance. “If you build in a dangerous place, you’ll have to pay more,” he said. But, thus far, insurance companies haven’t experienced enough losses to justify this. “We need to get together to coherently plan what we’d like to create,” he said. Architects, builders and city planners must be part of the process of using more fire-resistant materials and designing homes and communities that are more resilient to fire. However, Cochrane cautioned, ”there is no one-size-fits all solution. Different communities can decide to manage differently under the same conditions.” In addition, he pointed out, “With changing climates and changing development, any solution or approach has to be adaptable over time because conditions are changing.”